Don't Let Raptron in the House

[raptron]

We're going to focus on staying outside. It's still a pandemic, but I'm on Phase Social Distance and Chill rather than Phase Lock the Doors right now and will continue to do that. I am going to try keep enjoying the summer weather before we're back to fucking Zoom happy hours because it's too cold to go outside and too unsafe to hang out with people indoors. 🙃

 

1. Talk to you all about lifting because I like to.

2.  Bike exploration. Go somewhere new on your bike 1x per week (minimum of 10 miles round trip). Maybe see about resurrecting Adventure Club! But on bikes this time! 

3. Listen to the man and do knee PT or run as prescribed. If this improves, consider asking about a half marathon training plan. 🤓

4. Spend time in green spaces at least 1x per week. 

5. Dip into a body of water or pool 1x per week. 

5. Read 30 minutes a day. (Outside MY mind -- in other people's minds 😜)

[bigm141414]

 

I can get on board with this theme of keeping you locked outside. 

 

[Harriet]

Green spaces sound spiritually nourishing. As does lifting.

[Tanktimus the Encourager]

3 hours ago, raptron said:

4. Spend time in green spaces at least 1x per week. 

The Ranger in me approves heavily of this goal.

[WhiteGhost]

5 hours ago, raptron said:

it's too cold to go outside

WUT???  It's freaking JULY

[raptron]

1 hour ago, WhiteGhost said:

WUT???  It's freaking JULY

Hahaha, right! I’m taking advantage before we get back to that point! I assume the US will still be very deep in COVID in November. 😷

[raptron]

4 hours ago, bigm141414 said:

 

I can get on board with this theme of keeping you locked outside. 

 

Am I a wild animal that should be outside or just a threat to local fauna? Depends on who you ask. 

[raptron]

Zero Week Update

I wrapped up my trip with my Gym Crush (GC) and came back to Boston early Tuesday afternoon. Tuesday night, I lifted.

 

Squats: 2 x 8 x 210#, 2 x 6 x 225#, 2 x 4 x 240#

Paused squats: 4 x 3 x 225#

Bench press: 2 x 8 x 135#, 2 x 6 x 135#, 2 x 4 x 145#

Dips: 3 x 8

Glute ham raises: 3 x 8

 

Wednesday, I ran a slow (~9:40/mile) 3.5 miles because it was so very, very hot. I actually tried to stop by the gym first but there were too many people deadlifting, so I went on a run instead. I got home, made dinner, called my parents, finished up some late work, and ran D&D. One of my players is insistent on rigging the Council elections in a deep gnome city so that he can become the Gnome King and rob them blind of all of their treasures, so he was hitting the campaign circuit last night.  

 

I planned to deadlift today (Thursday), but I've been super busy with work, have a physical therapy assessment at 5 PM, and then I'm hanging out with my Quarantine Pal (QP) for the night. I think I'm just going to have to push the workout to tomorrow and take this as a rest day. 🤷‍♀️

[dancezwithkittehz]

Oh heeeeeey. Following as always ❤️

[Mad Hatter]

On 7/30/2020 at 12:22 AM, raptron said:

We're going to focus on staying outside. It's still a pandemic, but I'm on Phase Social Distance and Chill rather than Phase Lock the Doors right now and will continue to do that. I am going to try keep enjoying the summer weather before we're back to fucking Zoom happy hours because it's too cold to go outside and too unsafe to hang out with people indoors. 🙃

I feel like what you’re trying to do is what every person in Scandinavia has to do to survive winter. 😄 Staying in playing games is not an option if there’s any hint of sun outside. That’s what the remaining 10 months of the year are for.

[raptron]

I'm going to keep counting my weeks as working from home weeks just because it's a grand reminder that things are Not Normal here, still.

 

WFH Day 20.4

So, I went to my running assessment/physical therapy appointment! He did a bunch of range of motion and exercises tests to see if he noticed anything super funky. He said my left knee seems like it is a little inflamed, but the underlying structures seemed fine and my running form is actually not terrible...??? Who knew. His main recommendation was to try to up my running cadence over the next few runs and see if it has any impact on my knee pain -- with the cadence I usually run at, I seem to sink into my knees more than would be strictly necessary. 🤷‍♀️He thinks it's likely just that combined with proooobably increasing my mileage too fast. I'm not convinced that this tweak will necessarily fix my issue, but it's simple to try so we'll see how it goes.

 

The evening was chill. We got takeout from a barbecue place and watched some old Supermarket Sweep, lol. 

 

Today, I must deadlift! 

 

Saturday: I am maybe helping someone move. Depending on how the puzzle pieces of my plans shake out, I also want to lift, go to the beach, and RIDE BIKES with a friend. Maybe even to a green space. 

Sunday: I want to lift again, but take it easier with a focus on accessories. Also, we have THE RETURN OF HOCKEY, so I've got to watch the Bruins. I may watch with QP,  get pizza, and drink beer. 

 

[AgentsSka]

Increasing the mileage too fast will always lead to issues.

 

It's something I have to remind myself of frequently as I try to get back to racing shape.

[raptron]

2 hours ago, AgentsSka said:

Increasing the mileage too fast will always lead to issues.

 

It's something I have to remind myself of frequently as I try to get back to racing shape.

BUT I FOLLOWED THE GUIDELINES, SKAAAA. 

[AgentsSka]

which guidelines were you following?

[raptron]

Just now, AgentsSka said:

which guidelines were you following?

That 10% one! Though, I maybe started a bit hotter than I should have which could be the reason it all came crashing down. 😝

 

Also, I've told two other people that I'm running a half marathon this year, so I guess I #verbal'd. 🙈

[AgentsSka]

4 minutes ago, raptron said:

That 10% one! Though, I maybe started a bit hotter than I should have which could be the reason it all came crashing down. 😝

 

Haha.  That could be it.  Not too long ago, the lady was following a plan....  Well, she kept doing the long runs and increasing those, but then missing a bunch of the middle runs.  She was always like "but, I'm following the plan!" haha

 

4 minutes ago, raptron said:

Also, I've told two other people that I'm running a half marathon this year, so I guess I #verbal'd. 🙈

[KB Girl]

I was laughing out loud catching up on the GC saga  

lovely challenge, great way to roll with the punches the world is throwing.

 

edited to ask; did the PT just check your knee or also your hip?

[raptron]

49 minutes ago, KB Girl said:

I was laughing out loud catching up on the GC saga  

I maybe charitably didn't mention that he only actually gave me answers as we were gearing up to leave. My friend sent me this meme:

 

 

 

Quote

edited to ask; did the PT just check your knee or also your hip?

In terms of the ROM and pain tests, he mostly just checked my knee. But he did do a whole form assessment with SLOW MOOOO video and all of that and didn't say anything seemed off about my hips. I was very clear about the somewhat troubled history of the left side of my body, haha.

[JuiceeTarget]

Following. Particularly as you seem to be channeling Ranger vibes lately  

[WhiteGhost]

19 hours ago, raptron said:

His main recommendation was to try to up my running cadence over the next few runs and see if it has any impact on my knee pain -- with the cadence I usually run at, I seem to sink into my knees more than would be strictly necessary.

I have this issue.  If I run at a pace that is "comfortable" for my breathing, it puts me in a cadence that is horrible for my knees.  When I up the cadence it helps TONS, but I can't keep it up for very far because IT IS TOO TIRING  

[raptron]

On 7/31/2020 at 7:47 PM, GoodDoug said:

Following. Particularly as you seem to be channeling Ranger vibes lately  

 

[Mad Hatter]

On 8/1/2020 at 1:10 PM, WhiteGhost said:

I have this issue.  If I run at a pace that is "comfortable" for my breathing, it puts me in a cadence that is horrible for my knees.  When I up the cadence it helps TONS, but I can't keep it up for very far because IT IS TOO TIRING  

Same. I avoid both by NOT RUNNING. 

[raptron]

Zero Week Wrap-up

This weekend, I did a stellar job not being in the house.

 

Friday night, I went and got viet cajun fusion in a nearby beach town. Buttermilk fried soft shell crab banh mi? Hell yeah. It was amazingly good. My friend and I went to the beach and swam in the very like 1980s waves, which were cresting pink in the sunset. 

 

Nahant was very shiny in the sunset as well. 

 

 

After the beach, I decided I needed to lift because I couldn't make it Thursday and then Friday in the day was also crazy busy, so I rolled into the gym close to 10 PM on Friday night for my own little deadlift and dance party. 😁It was actually... exactly what I needed. I've been really, really missing parties and going out dancing and LOUD activities in general. And while being 100% alone in the gym blasting pop bops does not SOUND like a party, it felt a lot like a party. 

 

Paused deadlifts: 4 x 2 x 280#

Deadlifts: 2 x AMRAP 300# --> I did 5 on both sets! That is definitely a PR. Then, feeling saucy from my dance party, I did 2 x 1 x 315#. Just you know. To see how it feels. 🤣

Pull-ups: 3 x 4

Glute ham raises: 4 x 8

DB rows: 4 x 8 x 45# (slow-ish)

 

I was very pleased with this workout, got home around midnight, ate some raspberry chocolate chunk gelato, and fell very asleep.

 

Saturday morning, I got up early to help a teammate move. She saved all of the big, cumbersome furniture for us, haha. It was pretty sweaty work and involved a lot of tactical tetris and navigating tricky stairways. We helped for about 3 hours, which meant we could still have time in the day for other ACTIVITIES. I went back to lift, just a scant 14 hours after leaving, lol. 

 

Squats: 2 x 8 x 210#, 2 x 5 x 225#, 2 x 4 x 240#

Paused squats: 3 x 3 x 225#

Bench: 2 x 6 x 135#, 2 x 5 x 135#, 2 x 4 x 145#

Weighted dips: 8 x 10#, 3 x 4 x 25# <-- I tried weighted dips for the first time! My form with 25# needs some work (a lot of arch-y cheating), but it was cool to load up and give these a go! 😁

Bulgarian split squats: 3 x 8 x 40# DBs

 

We went to the beach (again) after lifting. It was a GORGEOUS, 82-ish degree day with a breeze. Despite my body having been completely ransacked from the previous 20 hours, I still spent way too long trying to do a controlled version of an instagram challenge my friend tagged me in, to the point where my lifting buddy was tired of filming me so I wound up filming this one by putting my phone in a shoe and trying to make sure I stayed in the frame. 😝

NOT content with these activities, I also met up with the friend I've been riding bikes with that I suspected was treating them more like dates. And the agenda was decidedly date-like: we got takeout and nice sour beers and enjoyed them in an overlook park at sunset. I don't really have strong feelings about this person either way, but everyone's looking for human touch within their circles right now, so 🤷‍♀️. He might wind up needing an acronym soon. 

 

Phew, that was only two days. SO SUNDAY, I was all ready to get my butt in gear to do errands, clean my room, do laundry, read more of the book for my friend's mom, work on materials from a course I signed up for for professional development...ALL THE PRODUCTIVE THINGS. Lol. Instead, I did 1 errand (return some clothes), and ran into two different people on the way (including having a 30 minute stoop chat with GC). Then, it was already time for the Bruins game (ugh -- maybe we don't deserve to have hockey back) with QP. We got really good greasy pizza to go with it, a must for the return of sports.

 

Then, my BFF had just went back to work this past weekend and she asked if I wanted to meet her for dinner at one of the sister restaurants to where she works, so I was like WELL OKAY OF COURSE, I WILL LOVE AND SUPPORT YOU (AND EAT AMAZING PASTA). So I met up with her with our other BFF for late night (9-11pm) patio dinner. I hadn't been able to sleep in like I had hoped, so I immediately crashed when I got home, still having not accomplished most of the life administration things I had on the docket. Oopssss.

 

Whatever, it was an exhilarating marathon of a weekend. I need to like... stop eating out for a few days though. I've blown through the "lol it's the pandemic, I'm barely spending money!" phase. 🙈

[AgentsSka]

Human touch is wonderful and necessary.

 

And, ugh... that Bruins game was depressing.

[miss_marissa]

That instagram challenge looks fun yet I definitely would be unable to do it # hipflexorssoweak

 

sounds like a fun filled weekend! Standard raptron shenanigans